Time Line:2009 – Oil prices and subsequently fuel prices reach a new high, helping to push the world into a deeper recession.

2011 – As the developed world begins to emerge on the other side of the financial hardship, fuel prices remain at record levels.

2015 – The average PPL in the UK reaches 400. Calls to reject traditional fuel powered means of transport in favour of greener alternatives causes a massive crash in demand. Fuel companies are forced to bring prices back to those seen in the 1980s in order to survive.

2025 – The North Sea Oil companies announce that they have drawn all that they can and will be closing operations. This announcement causes a surge in fuel prices as demand reaches an all-time high clashing with an all-time low of supply.

2026 – People worldwide begin the struggle as they can no longer afford to travel. No viable technologies remain available since the 2016 bankruptcy of the alternative fuel research companies.

2028 – Canada announces that it has successfully condensed the Nuclear fission process to a structure small enough to be useable in flight transport. The progress is rejected due to fears of the risks of radiation, despite huge leaps forward in medicines to treat radiation poisoning.

2034 – The Middle Eastern Oil companies announce that they are ceasing operations as their supplies have also dried up. This shock announcement sends the stock market into free-fall and panic buying of fuel wipes out supplies across the globe. Later that year scientists in Russia announce that that they have successfully created a chemical treatment that will safely render living cells immune to the harmful effects of radiation.

2036 – The first nuclear powered aeroplanes take flight in Canada. Containing passengers that have all been successfully treated with the new Russian technology, the venture is hailed as a total success.

2040 – Worldwide treatment of all new-born children against radiation poisoning becomes mandatory. Nuclear energy is now the dominant source worldwide, with renewables making up 10% and other fossil fuels less than 1%. Canadian and Russian economies flourish as other nations around the world find themselves increasingly indebted to the new powers due to their dependence on the new tech.

2043 – A new form of energy is unveiled in the UK, which draws suspicion worldwide. Individuals who seem capable of generating supernatural effects from themselves have been discovered and trained in secret over the past decade. Later that year other humans are found exhibiting similar traits in many countries, but dominantly in those classically referred to as third world.

2046 – Africa, long since united as one nation under democratic rule but struggling still due to their lack of access to nuclear power, invades Greece with a unit of what have become known as Binders, aiming to take control of the Nuclear technology there. Military force in the world has been mostly unused for decades and so the world is taken by shock. The invasion goes terribly wrong when the poorly trained Binders set off a chain reaction in the Athens Nuclear plant, causing a catastrophic explosion that wipes out the city. Russia and Canada independently declare that they are to take responsibility for bringing the African development under control. The UK announces compulsory registration and training for all those exhibiting Binding features.

2047 – Mainland Europe is in total chaos. With Greece swiftly folding in upon itself and refugees flooding southern Europe, crisis ensues. The UK (which left the EU in 2029) remains stable, and begins to operate a policy of Isolation. In the West the USA, which never recovered from the recession at the start of the century, faces similar turmoil to Europe. Towards the end of the year, Canada unrolls its new Nuclear based military technology as their forces land on African soil. Stating worldwide that they are seeking to put an end to the threat of the volatile Binders, fierce fighting breaks out, but Canada slowly makes progress.

2048 – Russia announces its invasion of Africa, with the intention of absorbing and training the Binders whilst preserving their culture. This causes an extremely negative reaction from Canada, who sees a challenge to their belief that Binders need to be controlled not trained. Behind the scenes, conspiracy theorists insist they are afraid of Russia taking control of new militarily viable forces. Whilst not officially at war, the two sides officially sever ties with one another. Africa becomes mostly controlled by one side or the other, with patch areas, dominantly in the south, remaining sovereign.

2049 – The EU officially announces bankruptcy and calls on the UK for aid. Following their isolationist policies, the request is refused. Grudgingly, the leaders of Europe turn to Russia, who begin to buy up and/or invest in European businesses and even land. By the end of the year mainland Europe and Russia are barely distinguishable. Over time Europe further adopts Russian traditions and culture. The war in Africa reaches an uneasy truce as the campaigns become too expensive and risky.

2051 – A devastating earthquake wipes out most of California. The chain reaction economically ruins the already fragile America. Canada comes to their aid, but the gesture soon proves aggressive as the American states are swiftly declared part of the New Canadian Empire. The people of America are not only powerless to resist, the majority welcome the change, as they have long since lost faith in their own governments. Life begins to improve. Meanwhile, Russia declares herself and mainland Europe as the new United Scientific States of Russia. The world witnesses some form of peace, unified in the horror of California. The United Kingdom (which has officially included all of Ireland since 2046) has completely withdrawn from Global politics, sports, news and trade.

2054 – Increasing geological instability worldwide prompts calls to shut down space programmes and focus on planet Earth. Popular opinion builds up at an astonishing speed, fuelled by realisation that very little had been accomplished over the past decades. Towards the end of the year information is leaked suggesting that evidence of exploration beyond the moon has been faked. Whilst authorities denied this furiously the suspicion had already set in.

2055 – The USSR takes the lead and closes down their deep space exploration programme, announcing a new era of dedication to the understanding and exploration of the planet. Less than a month later reports begin to be made public that contact with several islands in the Pacific Ocean has been lost. Within a few days it becomes apparent that a large swell caused by a seismic shift in the middle of the ocean has enveloped the missing islands. This causes alarm as there is no plate boundary where the seismic activity occurred.

2056 – Alarm spreads worldwide as the DEEP (Deep Earth Exploration Programme) discovers that the Pacific plate has begun to split. Meanwhile, the NCE announces a new programme of Nano Technology that all subjects are expected to participate in. The programme is expected to increase life expectancy, improve endurance, fitness, stamina and overall health. The technology is made possible thanks to the resistance to radiation developed in the USSR, as the Nanites are powered by a new generation of Micro Nuclear technology.

2060 – The split in the Pacific plate had shown no further activity, but just as the world relaxes, the Caribbean plate collapses, wiping out Mexico and a large part of South America. The migration of survivors North is blocked by the NCE and military boundaries are established on the southern borders of the old USA. What is left of the southern land mass becomes a wilderness of desperate souls and starvation. In the USSR, chemical programmes to boost the health of their population in similar ways to the NCE’s programme are announced. Concern that the process has not been sufficiently tested are expressed… and ignored.

2064 – Mainland Russia closes its borders and begins offering a new chemical treatment to its Citizens. Rumours spread that what was mainland Europe has been abandoned. In the NCE, precautions are being taken to protect themselves from future tidal events.

2065 – The colonies in Africa realise that their leading nations have not only lost interest but are too busy protecting themselves from various disasters to pay them any attention. Under the surface desires to get involved with the Binders and restore Africa to its people lead to the respective leaders of the (now formerly) USSR and NCE colonies begin negotiations with the South Africans. Satellite images belonging to the NCE reveal massive destruction in (former) mainland Europe, seemingly down to civil disturbances. No communications are possible and the USSR declines to comment. An expedition is sent across the Atlantic. It never returns.

2069 – Africa finalises the process of officially becoming her own ruler once more. Blending the technology inherited from the former occupiers with the wild ‘magic’ of the natives, a new territory rises, proclaiming themselves the Democratic Union of Africa. The United Kingdom reveals herself onto the global arena once more. Outside observers are surprised to find a land ruled by an elite caste descended from the Royal Family. They announce a radical plan to stabilise the physical structure of the Earth using ‘magic’. Both the USSR and NCE denounce the plan and refuse to re-establish trade.

2070 – The world experiences a catastrophic event. The Australian – Indian plate sinks below the surface of the Ocean. The tectonic activity causes a Tsunami that engulfs a significant portion of the east coast of the DUA and wipes out huge portions of Asia. Japan is wiped off the map. India and China are largely left underwater. The USSR takes control of what is left. Later in the year disaster strikes again as volcanic activity along the west coast of South America buries much of the continent in magma. Blaming the plans of the UK, prejudice against Binders and those linked to them spreads violently across the world. People demonstrating acquisition of this new form of energy are attacked, hundreds are murdered. Around the world, these people go into hiding. The United Kingdom is forced to agree to the isolation of Binders in order to re-establish much needed trade with the other nations in the world.

2079 – Almost a decade after the disasters, Binders have become unheard of. The Isolation Centres in the UK have been dismantled, no longer needed. A new era of technology is ushered in. Using the vast natural resources at their disposal, now able to be tapped, the DUA is able to buy the necessary knowledge of Nanites to start administering the treatment to their people. The UK continues to be mostly independent, their unusually long life spans and national good health not going unnoticed.

2083 – The United Nations is re-established. The DUA, USSR, NCE agree to re-establish the organisation, now based in Egypt. The world climate has cooled significantly over the past century, and the shrinkage of the polar regions has halted. The UN announces to the population of the world (estimated at around 3 billion) that new discoveries by the DEEP have led to their satisfactory conclusion that the seismic activities that were tearing the world apart have settled. It has become widely acknowledged around the world that traditional firearms have been replaced by micro nuclear weapons propelling energy slugs. Automatic weapons technology has also been abandoned as the average resilience of the population has been heightened to the point where such weapons are no longer viably efficient. Nuclear and bioweapons technology has likewise been rendered redundant. Nations find that they are reverting to the establishment of large military forces, strength of numbers, over technology. It is quite apparent that the United Nations is about control rather than peace.

2087 – The United Kingdom becomes an associated state within the USSR, in need of support. The ruling caste agrees to contribute technologically and financially to the wellbeing of Russia. The DUA leaves the United Nations, making clear that its strict dictatorial nature is not what their nation was created to tolerate.

2090 – War breaks out between the USSR and the DUA. This follows the discovery that the USSR has been hiding the fate of Europe. The early variants of the chemicals used to enhance their population were used on Eastern Europeans before mainland Russians. The results of these early chemicals, marketed as final products, caused mutations, physically and mentally, amongst the population. This spread across the continent, and caused Russia to seal her boundaries from the spread of such infection. Whilst unclear as to the true state of Europe at this time, the horrors of what Russia had done caused such outrage that the people of Africa demanded they be made accountable. Sold as a “Righteous Crusade”, the armies of Africa invaded Russia, but were met with fierce resistance. The majority of the fighting occurred in western Asia, where the USSR had created a less secure boundary. The NCE refused to get involved, also expressing anger at Russia’s actions but unwilling to commit to war.

2092 – The war dragged on, but had met a stalemate with neither side able to make way against the other. Contact is made with a settlement on the south western French coast that had managed to survive the Plague (as the European tragedy is now called) and the NCE makes efforts to support them. By the end of the year a secure foothold has been made and an accurate account of what occurred is established. Survivors describe a “Zombie” like invasion, referencing horror films created earlier in the century.

2095 – In an effort to break the stalemate the DUA reveals never before seen weather control technology. Natural disasters of a non-tectonic nature batter the USSR and before the end of the year their opponents are advancing into their territory. However, it has also become apparent by this time that the government of the Democracy has been using Binders hidden from the public and trained in secret to enact this ‘weather weapon’.

2096 – The NCE declares war on Africa just as the USSR seems set to topple, citing the breaking of international agreements regarding the removal of Binders. The weapon is turned on the west, but control is lost. Storms of unrivalled violence batter both nations, weakening them to the point of collapse. The loss of life, whilst nowhere near the scale of the disasters of 2070, is immense.

2097 – The United Kingdom reveals that they too had maintained the training of Binders in secret. Having developed a much longer association with the energy, the British Binders prove themselves far more skilled than their foreign counterparts. Within weeks the global weather systems are brought back under control. However, despite the cessation of direct hostilities, all three major nations are quite clearly separated politically, economically and morally. The United Kingdom breaks away from the USSR and offers London as the new home of the United Nations, declaring themselves neutral. The offer is accepted and the UN resumes its task of rebuilding the world once again.

2100 – The DEEP releases research suggesting that the Earth is still coming apart. The stability of the plates remains in question and the causes of the disruption in the now previous century are still totally unknown. A religious movement that had been established in the aftermath of 2070 begins to accelerate in popularity. Known as “Planetism” they preach that the world was formed as evolutionists say, but that a force they maintain the generic term God for was behind the initial series of events that caused the planet to form. All beliefs and previous religions are irrelevant in their eyes, and simply sought to express faith in a single power that had been witnessed, manifested or interpreted in thousands of ways across the millennia. They were neither wrong nor right, except in the belief that how they led their lives made any difference to God. They also preached that God was leaving the planet, and this is why it was coming apart. There was no talk of salvation, just a simple statement that this is what was happening.

2102 – Religion and Science collide as the DEEP, whilst investigating the core of the Earth using powerful scanning technology, establishes the existence of a force other than gravity pulling the planet together. In being able to measure the force of gravity, and the total forces at play at the centre of the Earth, they found that known forces did not account for all the power at the heart of the planet. The discovery, leaked to other nations, sends ripples around the world and technological advancement is pointed in the direction of understanding and duplicating this force.

2106 – As the average life expectancy world-wide reaches one hundred, Planetism is declared the only remaining significant religion on Earth. All other religions are now considered branches of Planetism, and all are accepted as interpretations of the same power, with people free to choose their interpretation. This turn marks a new era of tolerance, as race, sexuality, age and appearance have long since vanished as being regarded as social issues. Religion was the last of the old prejudices to be settled. The United Kingdom, long established as a melting pot of the world’s cultures, has now become the central hub of the world. Whilst possessing little actual power of her own, her position affords the country a certain protection and influence that stretched beyond the world of authority and government.

2111 – The USSR sends an army into mainland Europe, now known amongst popular culture as the 28th Divide, with her leadership proclaiming sorrow for the actions of former authorities and promises of rectifying the mistakes of the past with new chemical technology intended to ‘cure’ the mutations. The expedition goes well at first; though no contact is made they are able to travel far into the 28th. Contact is lost in July, which comes as no surprise to many.

2112 – Russia is attacked by an army of Mutants now equipped with technology that is assumed to have been stolen from the missing army. The creatures are hard to kill and fearless. It is only through the intervention of a unit of British Binders, now utilising technology to supplement the dwindling energy that they once controlled, that the USSR held her border. It becomes apparent however that the 28th Divide has somehow created a loose organisation and even more worryingly, producing their own weapons.

2118 – The death of the second Emperor of the NCE generates turmoil. With no clear heir many groups and individuals vie for power, some seeking personal glory, other wishing to establish more democratic rule. The DUA remains the only non-dictatorship. The UK is ruled by the Monarchy, at this time Queen Elizabeth the Third sits on the throne for the past decade, assuming power at the tender age of twenty. The USSR is ruled by the Tzarin Nikolas, an imposing man of fifty years, twenty in power. The DUA operates a system of proportional representation, but with only four parties to choose from, they ensure stronger leadership. Earth tremors begin in this year that cause people to worry greatly about the future and what they may mean.

2122 – The Planetism movement, by now considered the most influential organisation in the world after the leaderships, led by a woman named Mary Kraw, begin preaching the need to resume exploration of the space beyond the planet. The DEEP have still been unable to identify the mysterious force helping to hold the planet together but have been able to show that it is growing weaker.

2123 – A new Emperor succeeds in taking control of the NCE; Joseph Farland. He promises to lead the country to new heights of power and announces the creation of the Beyond Earth Space Investigation, which would aim to unravel the mysteries of the worlds beyond our own and seek new living places in the event of Earth becoming uninhabitable. The move is widely welcomed, but economists forecast that there is simply not enough money to fund the project.

2127 – The first of the new generation of nuclear powered space exploration vehicles is launched, and watched by billions around the globe. Despite assurances to the contrary, the NCE is said to be in massive debt and the quality of life declining sharply due to the investment in BESI. Within days of the spacecraft (Hope) leaving the atmosphere it is widely said that the project is a sign that the leadership of Earth is looking to leave the planet rather than save it. Contact is lost with Hope on the 2nd day of the mission, and a nation mourns, the irony of what they’ve lost is not unrecognised.

2129 – No further BESI missions have been launched as the NCE is commonly thought to be near bankruptcy. The DEEP announce that they are closing down due to lack of funding and results. The world seems to feel a communal sense of fear that the quest to find answers is over.

2130 – 2150 – These years are known as the lost years. The world sank into a state of depression, economically and emotionally. It was as though everyone had given up. There seemed to be no development, no wars, no changes. For twenty years everything just carried on, with the exception of the United Kingdom whose population grew as more and more migrated there to escape the poverty that seemed to be striking the three major nations.

2151 – An event came that shook the world from her slumber. The spacecraft Hope returned to Earth. The crew, all alive and well, declared that they had found… nothing. They had travelled decades at near the speed of light and encountered nothing, detected nothing. The conspiracy theories of the twentieth century were proved right. Shaken by this bleak discovery, the world woke into action. Given the certainty that Earth was all they had, a new drive to save her was stirred in the hearts of the populations and leadership. The DEEP was recomissioned, only this time as an inter-national organisation. BESI was effectively disbanded, though a small research team managed to secure funding to carry on investigations. Planetism now focused people’s belief on the force that had been discovered that was helping hold the planet together.

2052 – The DEEP makes a startling discovery. The force, now named Nykalz in honour of the man who originally set up the organisation, manifested in physical, containable form. Nykalzite, a form of crystal, was discovered under the crust of the planet and within that crystal this energy could be found and potentially (though not yet) used. Worldwide mining projects begin, hoping to find large reserves of the crystal.

2053 – War returned to Earth. A dispute over an undersea vein of Nykalzite in the Atlantic between the NCE and the DUA spills into aggression then death as the two mining teams come to blows. New hover technology allows furious battles to occur all over the Atlantic, though rarely spilling inland. The UK reveals the location of another vein deep within the 28th Divide to the USSR, who do not question the information but send missions in to confirm. One succeeds and returns, reporting massive Nykalz readings within Northern Italy.

2054 – The world grows unstable, physically and politically as war drags on and tectonic events occur more frequently. The Atlantic vein is abandoned as undersea movements cause it to be buried, with no chance of recovery whilst two sides fight for it. The two nations seek to weaken the other to allow them clear access, fearing to venture into the 28th. Meanwhile, the USSR struggles to muster and army willing to enter the Divide. Planetism speaks of Nykalzite as though it were the saviour of the planet.

2055 – The assassination of Joseph Farland causes two significant events. The first is the accepting of power by Conrad Farland, Joseph’s son, an entirely more aggressive man. The second is the DUA’s return to the Atlantic to secure the Nykalzite. In the 28th Divide, some form of leadership has emerged and begun negotiations with the USSR for trade in the energy. The mutants, now known as Dividers, were previously thought to be unintelligent. This proved to be an assumption, as their leader, a creature of ambiguous gender, known only as Throng communicates fluently and cunningly with the Tzarin. Meanwhile a rich source of the resource is found in the South West of the United Kingdom, sparking jealousy and concern from the three larger nations.

2056 – Tzarin Nikolas attempts to betray negotiations with the Dividers at a summit in old Estonia. The diplomatic party from the 28th are ambushed. Not only does the ambush fail, but the ambushers are wiped out as the Dividers demonstrate a reminder of their power and technology. A furious Throng declares war on the world, seeing all non-mutants as the same and proclaiming death for any that are found in his territory. To the frustration of all, at around the same time that the DEEP announces that they have discovered a method of utilising Nykalz as a useful source of energy, with the future implication of using it to strengthen the Earth. The frustration lies in their lack of access to significant sources of the crystal. Mistrusting of the other nations, they insist that Nykalzite is sent to them to use. The UK and NCE refuse, closing their borders to the USSR.

2057 – An NCE infiltration mission is uncovered in Cornwall. Mind scanning technology reveals that they were sent by Farland to recover Nykalzite, and that similar missions had been sent all over the world. Unsure of how to proceed with this information, the Queen orders it kept within the country. It is only when the USSR reports that prototypes of their technology to manipulate Nykalz has been stolen does the United Kingdom act and openly accuse Farland of seeking to develop the energy and use it for himself. The accusation is met with a terrifying new weapon that is launched into the heart of London, wiping out much of the south east of England. The weapon was powered by Nykalz. Horrified at this turn of events and reeling from the disaster, the United Kingdom urges the other nations to deny Farland any access to Nykalzite and further, to protect the sources at all costs. They readily agree.

2058 – A crippled United Kingdom diverts most of her resources to protecting the reserves of Nykalzite and further to that destroying it. The tragedy of London (which had long since lost its status as capital in favour of Cardiff) generated massive support for this action, but Planetists argued that the resource was needed to save the world. It appeared that the weapon was a one shot move of Farland’s and that he had no other devices, probably due to a lack of resources, to use. Reports reach the rest of the world that Farland has entered the remains of Mexico and enslaved their population, using them as a labour force within his Empire. Long rejected and seen as nothing more than lost people without strength, they proved an easy target. The USSR orders the scientists with the knowledge of the use of Nykalzite killed, for fear of how the knowledge could be used. Things may well have been different if they possessed the necessary resources to utilise such weapons themselves…

2159 – With the standing armies of each nation embroiled in many vital activities a new generation of unit is born. Individuals begin to step forward to partake in specific missions that the army simply hasn’t the man power to perform. These people are often mercenaries looking for work, or military personnel loaned to companies, or just adventure seekers bored of their lives and looking for excitement. The world is massively uncertain about the direction it should take, and people are resorting to desperate means to make some meaning out of their lives. Tectonic activity creates a tear in the crust of the planet separating the USSR and the DUA. Some are not convinced that this is coincidence.

2160 – An international organisation emerges known only as “The Spinners”. They begin to manage the individuals who seek adventure and offer services of groups to those who can afford the appropriate funds. The Spinners ensure transport to and from the missions and a new era of such operations begins in a massively commercialised manner. Controversy spreads when it is revealed that they provide their services for the NCE as well, but the leaderships are unsure on what to do about it, as they find The Spinners very useful.

2161 – The uneasy stalemate across the globe persists, with any affirmative action taking place only through The Spinners in an effort by each nation not to commit themselves to an event that could lead to all-out war. Tectonic activity continues to cause worry, and uncertainty has a huge place in the hearts of the population. The next, and maybe last steps of the planet Earth approach, and it may well be down to the actions, morals, decisions or mistakes of The Spinners that decide where fate ends.

Saga 2015 will be entirely celebrating and drinking with nothing bad happening and no bad guys showing up at all ever